Thalhimer denies allegations in defamation suit filed by Flying Squirrels owner

In a new legal filing, Diamond District developer Jason Guillot says he was threatened by Richmond Flying Squirrels owner Lou DiBella, but didn’t report what had happened as a death threat.

DiBella filed a defamation lawsuit last month against Guillot and Guillot’s employer, Thalhimer Realty Partners, claiming a heated encounter at the new CarMax Park resulted in Guillot falsely telling city officials DiBella had threatened to “kill” Guillot and his family. 

DiBella claims he made a joking comment about hurting Guillot and his family that was taken out of context and weaponized against him in an ongoing dispute over a small piece of Thalhimer-controlled land next to the new ballpark.

In a response filed Thursday that was first reported by Richmond BizSenze, the Thalhimer defendants argued it’s DiBella himself using intimidation tactics by filing a “baseless” lawsuit built around something Guillot did not actually say.

“Although the Complaint concedes that Lou DiBella threatened Guillot in various ways, Guillot never reported to anyone at the City of Richmond and/or the Economic Development Authority that DiBella ‘threatened to kill Guillot and his family,’” the Thalhimer response says.  “City officials will confirm that Guillot made no such statements.”

DiBella alleged Guillot told the city the threat had occurred during an argument at CarMax Park in April, on the opening night of the new baseball stadium. 

As the encounter wrapped up, DiBella claims he told Guillot he would never hit him and repeated an “approximate quote” from the 1982 film “Diner,” saying: “But if I did hit you, I’d hit you so hard, I’d hurt your whole family.”

The exact quote from the movie is “I’ll hit you so hard, I’ll kill your whole family.”

Angie Rodgers, Richmond’s director of economic development, later called DiBella about the incident.

In a sworn declaration attached to Thalhimher’s response, Rodgers said Guillot never told her DiBella had threatened to kill him and his family and never suggested as much in her April 9 call to DiBella.

Guillot wrote a contemporaneous memo to the city relaying his version of events. That memo mentioned that DiBella’s dog bit someone and pooped in the Thalhimer suite and said DiBella had threatened to “bitch slap” Guillot. However, the memo did not mention any threat to kill.

DiBella claimed the city and Thalhimer — the lead developer in charge of the broader Diamond District mixed-use redevelopment that includes the new ballpark — were essentially teaming up to harm him as the parties continue to work through details of the project.

Thalhimer’s response says the company has no incentive to do so, because it already has the piece of land DiBella is trying to buy.

“Defendants already own the parcel, and they have no need to exert leverage against DiBella,” the response says. “It is DiBella, through this meritless lawsuit and other legal threats, who seeks to pressure the Defendants to sell the parcel.”

Guillot and Thalhimer are being represented by a team of local attorneys from William Mullen.

DiBella is being represented by Alexandria-based law firm Clare Locke.

Thalhimer’s response also pushes back against DiBella’s claim the development team was trying to undercut ballpark concessions by building a sports bar on the disputed 0.8-acre parcel. 

The plan, according to DiBella’s suit, was to name the establishment “Parney’s Pub” after former Squirrels executive Todd “Parney” Parnell.

DiBella’s legal filing claims Parney alerted him to the plan, but Thalhimer alleges it was Parney who approached the development team with the idea as far back as the spring of 2024.

Contact Reporter Graham Moomaw at gmoomaw@richmonder.org